Sunday, May 29, 2022

OKLAHOMA PASSES THE MOST RESTRICTIVE ABORTION LAW IN THE UNITED STATES, FROM THE MOMENTO OF CONCEPTION


THE ONLY THING MISSING IS THE SIGNATURE OF THE GOVERNOR, WHO HAS ALREADY ANNOUNCED THAT HE WILL DO IT 

InfoCatolica. May 20, 2022. As reported by The New York Times, the Oklahoma legislature gave final approval on Thursday to a bill banning nearly all abortions from conception, making it the nation’s strictest abortion law.

(NYT/InfoCatólica) The bill allows individuals to sue abortion providers and anyone who “helps or encourages” an abortion. It would take effect immediately when signed by Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican who has pledged to make Oklahoma the most anti-abortion state in the country.

“There can be nothing higher or more critical than defending innocent, unborn life,” State Representative Jim Olsen, a Republican, said Thursday on the floor of the Oklahoma House, where the bill passed by 73-16 votes. 

The measure is modeled on a law that went into effect in Texas in September that banned abortion after about six weeks and relied on civil rather than criminal enforcement to evade legal challenges. Because of that provision — the law explicitly says state authorities can’t bring charges — the U.S. Supreme Court and state courts have said they can’t block the ban, even if it violates the constitutional right to abortion enshrined in Roe v. wade.

The Oklahoma ban goes beyond Texas law, which prohibits abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. The bill defines an unborn child as “a human fetus or embryo at any stage of pregnancy from conception to birth.” Anti-abortion groups, which believe abortion is murder, have tried unsuccessfully since the 1973 Roe decision to pass federal or state legislation defining life as beginning at conception.

Thursday’s vote was the latest move by the Republican-led Oklahoma legislature, in conjunction with Mr. Stitt, to scrap abortion rights until the procedure is almost completely banned. Together, they have placed their state at the head of the pack of Republican-led states rushing to pass laws restricting or banning abortion in the expectation that the Supreme Court will soon overthrow Roe. A leaked draft opinion written by Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. — along with oral arguments in the present case, regarding a Mississippi law prohibiting the procedure beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy — indicated the court was willing to do so. 

In Oklahoma, multiple Democrats in the State House begged their colleagues not to pass the bill on Thursday. Several urged Oklahoma to focus more on financing family planning services, or improving the lives of young Oklahomans living in poverty.

The bill makes exceptions for rape and incest cases, but only if those crimes have been reported to the police.

Panic Among Abortion Entrepreneurs

Opponents of abortion increasingly rely on civil enforcement to achieve long-standing goals. Even in the absence of lawsuits against abortion providers, civil enforcement laws have left a chilling effect on abortion providers and distributors of abortion pills who stop working for fear of prosecution.

“This is not a fire drill,” said Emily Wales, the president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which has operations in Oklahoma. “This is not a rehearsal for what is to come. We now live in this real world. The Supreme Court will make that final this summer.”

Other states have tried to ban abortion during pregnancy but have been held back by court order because the Roe decision states that states cannot ban abortion before viability, or about 24 weeks. States, including Mississippi, have attempted voting initiatives that define fetuses as persons, leading abortion to murder, but have failed.

No state currently prohibits abortion after conception. Oklahoma law attempts to do this by using a legal tactic that the courts have allowed: civil enforcement.

If signed by the governor, the Oklahoma law would cut off another option for Texas women flooded across the state line to seek legal action, and it aims to punish even those out of state who assist Oklahoma women in getting abortions.

In 2017, the last year for which statistics were available, there were 4,780 abortions in Oklahoma, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. As in most states, the number of abortions in Oklahoma had fallen. But Texas law resulted in an influx of women entering Oklahoma to have abortions. Planned Parenthood said its Oklahoma health centers saw the number of patients from Texas increase by 2,500 percent in the first three months of the law.

Oklahoma already has a trigger ban that would immediately ban abortion if the court overturns Roe, as well as an abortion ban that has been on the books since the Roe decision. Two weeks ago, just after Alito’s draft advice was leaked, Mr. Stitt issued a six-week ban that was closely modeled on Texas law. The previous month, he had signed a law that will come into effect at the end of August banning abortion completely except to save the mother’s life. That ban imposes criminal penalties on abortion providers.

The latest bill in Oklahoma was denounced by the Biden administration as the most extreme example of lawmakers overturning the right to abortion.


Friday, May 27, 2022

MARY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS (MAY 24)




Dear Mother, Help of Christians, I place the grace that I need in your Blessed Hands.

To you who knows my sorrows, I entrust them all. Give peace to those who worry and relief to my heart.

And even though I don't deserve your love, I won't have recourse to you in vain. You are the Mother of God and the help of Christians.



Tuesday, May 24, 2022

A MESSAGE FROM DON BOSCO


“I want you all to do this test and to have it done also to all your relatives and friends, telling them either by letter or at this upcoming feast of Mary Help of Christians (May 24), coming to see you or otherwise, that Don Bosco tells them that if they have some spiritual grace to be obtained, pray to the Madonna in this form: ‘Maria Auxilium Christianorum, ora pro nobis’, and you will be heard. 

It is understood that it must be prayed with the conditions that every prayer must have.

And if your prayers are not answered, you will give me great pleasure in letting me know. 

And if I come to know that one has not obtained any spiritual grace from Mary, I will immediately write a letter to Saint Bernard who was mistaken in saying: "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, and sought thy intercession, was left unaided…”

But be assured that I will not have to write a letter to Saint Bernard. 

So do the test and if you are not heard we will not find it difficult to send a letter to Saint Bernard. And, if such a thing were to happen, then the holy Doctor would immediately be able to find some defect in the supplicant's prayer...

Don Bosco to his students - May 20, 1877


Sunday, May 22, 2022

THE EXORCISM OF SAINT DOMINIC


Saint Dominic put his rosary around the Albigensian's neck and asked the devils to tell him who, of all the saints in heaven, was the one they feared the most, and who should therefore be the most loved and revered by men. At this they let out such unearthly screams that most of the people fell to the ground, faint from fear. 

Then, using all their cunning, so as not to answer, the devils wept and wailed in such a pitiful way that many of the people wept also, out of purely natural pity. Saint Dominic was not one whit moved by the pathos of these wretched spirits and told them that he would not let them alone until they had answered his question. Then they said they would whisper the answer in such a way that only Saint Dominic would be able to hear. The latter firmly insisted upon their answering clearly and out loud. Then the devils kept quiet and refused to say another word, completely disregarding Saint Dominic's orders - so he knelt down and prayed thus to Our Lady: "Oh, all powerful and wonderful Virgin Mary, I implore you by the power of the Most Holy Rosary, order these enemies of the human race to answer me."

No sooner had he made this prayer than a glowing flame leaped out of the ears, nostrils and mouth of the Albigensian. Everyone shook with fear, but the fire did not hurt anyone. Then the devils cried:

"Dominic, we beseech you, by the passion of Jesus Christ and by the merits of His Holy Mother and of all the saints, let us leave the body of this man without speaking - for the angels will answer your question whenever you wish. After all, are we not liars? So why should you want to believe us? Please don't torture us anymore; have pity on us."

Saint Dominic knelt down again and prayed to Our Lady: "Oh most worthy Mother of Wisdom, I am praying for the people assembled here who have already learned how to say the Angelic Salutation properly. Please, I beg of you, force your enemies to proclaim the whole truth and nothing but the truth about this, here and now, before the multitude."

Saint Dominic had hardly finished this prayer when he saw the Blessed Virgin near at hand, surrounded by a multitude of angels. She struck the possessed man with a golden rod that she held and said: "Answer my servant Dominic at once." (Remember, the people neither saw nor heard Our Lady, but only Saint Dominic.)

"Then listen well you Christians; the Mother of Jesus Christ is all powerful and she can save her servants from falling into hell. She is the Sun which destroys the darkness of our wiles and subtlety. It is she who uncovers our hidden plots, breaks our snares and makes our temptations useless and ineffectual.

"We have to say, however reluctantly, that not a single soul who has really persevered in her service has ever been damned with us; one single sigh that she offers to the Blessed Trinity is worth far more than all the prayers, desires and aspirations of all the saints.

"We fear her more than all the other saints in heaven together and we have no success with her faithful servants. Many Christians who call upon her when they are at the hour of death and who really ought to be damned according to our ordinary standards are saved by her intercession.

"Oh if only that Mary (it is thus in their fury that they called her) had not pitted her strength against ours and had not upset our plans, we should have conquered the Church and should have destroyed it long before this; and we would have seen to it that all the Orders in the Church fell into error and disorder.

"Now that we are forced to speak we must also tell you this: nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God's forgiveness and mercy."

Then Saint Dominic had them all say the Rosary very slowly and with great devotion, and a wonderful thing happened: at each Hail Mary that he and the people said together a large group of devils issued forth from the wretched man's body under the guise of red-hot coals.

When the devils had all been expelled and the heretic was at last entirely free of them, Our Lady (who was still invisible gave her blessing to the assembled company, and they were filled with joy because of this.

A large number of heretics were converted because of this miracle and joined the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary.


Friday, May 20, 2022

HOW WE SHOULD PRAY


In this world we must always pray, because we are always in need of divine help to be consoled in our afflictions and to be assisted in our temporal and spiritual needs before our visible and invisible enemies. You say that you cannot pray continuously: pray as often as you can, at the beginning of your main actions and, above all, in the temptations that the enemy of salvation devises against you.

Pray with such respect and modesty that your prayer edifies others. God demands from you, while you pray, the attention of the spirit and the modesty of the body. That recollection and modesty will help you a lot to attain inner modesty. Would you dare to speak to an important person in the way that you often do with God? With what haste you say your vocal prayers! When you start praying think of the majesty of God before whom the cherubim tremble, and you will speak to Him with more respect, humility, and modesty. Prayer itself can become sin (St. Augustine).

Mindfulness should always accompany your prayers. God is spirit and he wants you to worship Him in spirit. Your mouth speaks to God, but your heart is far from Him, it is occupied with riches, absorbed in the love of creatures. It is your heart what God asks of you, and not the words of your lips.  How can you ask God to listen to you when you don't even listen to yourself? (Saint Cyprian).

Small Compendium of Meditations

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

CHILDREN ARE BEGOTTEN TO TAKE THEM TO HEAVEN

A MOTHER SHOULD...

1. TEACH HER CHILDREN ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Like Margherita Occhiena, mother of Saint John Bosco, who took advantage of every opportunity to teach her children about God.

When the sun rose over the snowy Alps, she would say: “What wonders God has made for us, my children!"

Or when the hail had devastated her family's humble vineyard, she would resignedly say: “Let us bow our heads, my children; God had given us those beautiful things. God has taken them away from us. He is the Owner. For us it is a test, for the evil, a punishment.”

On beautiful starry nights, she would go outside the house, point to the sky and say: – “God is the one who created the world and placed the stars up there. If the sky is so beautiful, what will Paradise be like?”

2. TEACH HER CHILDREN TO HATE SIN

Like Blanche of Castile, mother of Saint Louis. 

Queen and mother, she was concerned to make her son, Saint Louis, a Crusader King, a fervent Christian and an irreproachable ruler. Since he was a child, she would say to her son over and over again: 

“I love you, my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child; but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should ever commit a mortal sin.”

You have no idea how much the soul of the priest suffers when, in the confessional, he hears certain sins that could have been avoided with a little diligence on the part of the parents of a child!

A mother must explain to her children why certain tv shows or movies are bad, why such music damages the soul, why such "innocent" games or Internet sites destroy not only the imagination of children but their path to sainthood.

It would even seem that some mothers say: "I would rather see you commit a thousand mortal sins than see you dead!”

Father Javier Olivera Ravasi

Note of Catholicity: How necessary are those mothers who above all seek the salvation of their children's souls! Blessed are those mothers. Parents will give account to God of the formation given to their children, because children are begotten to take them to Heaven.


 

Sunday, May 15, 2022

LET’S RENEW THE ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY


O Most Holy Virgin Mary, who at Fatima manifested yourself to the three little shepherds, and who in your maternal goodness revealed to them the greatness of your Immaculate Heart, to prevent souls from being eternally lost. 

Relying on your promise that your Immaculate Heart will be our safe refuge and the path that will lead us to God; I ………………………………………… consecrate myself freely to your Immaculate Heart.

From now on, I want to be your son/daugther so that you teach me to live the commandments of God, which are the way to holiness. 

I consecrate my body, my soul, my spirit to you, so that in the future I will not stray from God.

Take me, Holy Virgin, from now on, to make me an apostle of your Immaculate Heart. Amen.


Friday, May 13, 2022

OBEDIENCE TO GOD COMES BEFORE OBEDIENCE TO MEN, REGARDLESS OF THE HIERARCHY THEY MAY HAVE


“He, who by obedience, submits to evil, is attached to rebellion against God and not to submission to Him.” 

 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

CHRIST IS ENTIRELY PRESENT IN EVERY PARTICLE OF THE CONSECRATED HOST, THEREFORE LET’S AVOID RECEIVING COMMUNION ON THE HAND


"Just like the sun cannot be divided, neither can God and Man be separated (that is, Christ, true God and true Man, cannot be divided) in the whiteness of the Holy Host. Let us suppose that the Sacred Host could be divided: even if it would be possible to fragment the Holy Eucharist into thousands of tiny Particles, in each one of the tiny Particles there is the presence of Christ, the whole God and the whole Man (that is, the whole Christ with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity). In the same manner that a mirror would shatter into thousands of pieces, the Sacred Host will not shatter or divide the image of God and Man that you see in the Host; the image of God and Man is in each fragmented part."

Saint Catherine of Siena


Sunday, May 8, 2022

DON'T FORGET YOUR LOVED ONES WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY. THERE IS A DUTY OF JUSTICE OR CHARITY TO PRAY FOR THEM



 Let us never stop praying for the holy souls in Purgatory, perhaps tomorrow, we will be the ones waiting for a pious prayer.

Sometimes we believe this wrong idea that when a loved one dies, it causes us a lot of pain and sorrow... but that's it. And we hear things like:

- Finally, he/she is resting with Our Lord.

- Now we have little angel in heaven.

-He/she was very good, they are already at peace.

No brethern, only God knows in what state that soul arrived in His presence, but good wishes are not enough to save a soul, however dear it may be to us. Furthermore, human beings never become angels: they obtain the beatific vision if they reach eternal glory.

Let us never stop offering prayers and Masses for the souls of our loved ones and acquaintances, and for the souls in Purgatory in general. They may still need us. Most likely, one day we will be the ones who need the prayers of those left in this valley of tears. Out of gratitude, the souls that have come out of Purgatory through our prayers and indulgences will surely also intercede in Heaven for us.

Let us always pray for them!

Prayer for the holy souls in Purgatory:

Merciful God, who forgives us and wants the salvation of all men, we implore your mercy so that, through the intercession of Mary Most Holy and of all the saints, You grant the souls of our parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends and benefactors, that have left this world, the grace of eternal happiness.

Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Purgatory; I have come to deposit in your Immaculate Heart a prayer on behalf of the holy souls who suffer in the place of atonement. Deign to listen my prayer, most merciful Lady, if this is your will and that of your merciful Son.

Amen.

Mary, Queen of Purgatory, I pray for those souls towards whom I have or may have some obligation, be it charity or justice.

Amen. 


Friday, May 6, 2022

THE ROLE OF THE MOTHER


 “Who shall find a valiant woman? far, and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her (…). Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31).

"Beget children for Heaven."

Cows have offspring, dogs and hares too, but while these animals of God raise children for earth, the Christian mother must do so for Heaven. Because before feeding the body, we must think about feeding the soul. Before thinking about what the children will wear, we must think if they are clothed in grace. That is why the role of the mother is fundamental, so much so that Our Lord lived without a father in the flesh, but not without a mother.

"Beget children for Heaven...". Practicing the virtues, above all; that is why Saint John Mary Vianney used to say that "virtue passes smoothly from the heart of a mother to the hearts of her children”.

From the mother the child learns the first prayer or the first insult.

From the mother, the child will first know how to distinguish the good from the bad, which is why the ideological current which states that "you must not set limits", "you must not correct", "you must never raise your hand" is so disastrous.  

"Hast thou children? Instruct them, and bow down their neck from their childhood." (Ecclesiasticus, 7-23) because “a horse not broken becometh stubborn, and a child left to himself will become headstrong". (Ecclesiasticus, 30- 8).

The obligation of the Catholic mother is to take her children to Heaven. And if, despite a good formation, the son or daughter goes astray, there is always the resource of constant prayer for him or her. A bishop told Saint Monica, who insistently prayed for her sinful son: "The child of those tears shall never perish." And that son became a great saint: Saint Augustine.


Wednesday, May 4, 2022

REMEMBER, by Friar Louis of Granada


NOBODY KNOWS WHEN OR WHY

Remember, now, my brother, that you are a Christian and that you are a man. Since you are a man, you know for sure that you will have to die, and since you are a Christian, you also know that you will have to account for your life, after you die. In this, the faith we profess leaves no room for doubt; nor in the other, the experience of what we see. So, no one can escape from this, let him be king, let him be Pope.

Sinners Guide. Friar Louis of Granada